alter

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If the alter is any closer than three feet you may just anger the gods of Google.

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Definitions (17)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (4)

  1. transitive verb To change or make different; modify: altered my will.
  2. transitive verb To adjust (a garment) for a better fit.
  3. transitive verb To castrate or spay (an animal, such as a cat or a dog).
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Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (2)

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Examples (7)

  • If the alter is any closer than three feet you may just anger the gods of Google. —  YBMT
  • Let me get this straight, any black man who fails to bow down at the alter is a token or uncle tom? —  CNN Political Ticker
  • Your having contracted such debts will alter his opinion of your prudence and of mine, and may, perhaps, essentially alter--alter His will? —  Tales and Novels — Volume 05
  • And after a moment I saw his expression alter, as though some spark--something already half dead within him was faintly reviving They have set a price on Major Lockwood's head," he said; and Boyd halted to listen--and the man looked him in the eyes for a moment My lieutenant carried his commission with him, though contrary to advice and practice among men engaged on such a mission as were we. —  The Hidden Children
  • Beyonce recently announced she wants to be known as her alter-ego, Sasha Fierce. —  News from www.rep-am.com
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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

Used in the same contextWord Family

alter:   altering ·  altered ·  alters
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English alteren, from Old French alterer, from Medieval Latin alterāre, from Latin alter, other; see al-1 in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. from Middle Latin alterare, make other, from Latin alter, other, from al- (seen in alius, other, alicnus, of another, etc.: see alias, alien, etc.) + comparative suffix -ter = English -ther in other, whether, etc., and -ter in after, etc.
 

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/ˈɔltər/
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